Ask your cooperating teacher about their class policies. How do they introduce their policies and enforce them throughout the year? Does he or she begin the year going over basic skills, e.g. measurement, or do they begin the year with course topics? Obtain a copy of any handouts about policies or safety from the first week of class.
My cooperating teacher, Ms. Parvo, introduces her classroom polices on the first day of class. She does so by going over the school wide rules and policies first, then by passing around a bright yellow piece of paper entitled, "Ms. Parvo Brown's Classroom Expectations 2009-2010." The students read the expectations, fill in expectations that they have for Ms. Parvo as their teacher, and sign and date it. It is bascially a student contract, that way the students are clear as to what is expected of them both academically and behaviorly. The parents/guardiens of the student also has to read and sign the contract, so the parents know what is expected of their child. The parents are asked to leave their phone number and email address so Ms. Parvo can contact them easily if needed. Also a paper entitled, "How to WORK to improve your grade" is passed out, and read together as a class. Ms. Parvo clearly explains how to improve their grade in the class by coming after school, etc. A class syllabus is passed out, and breaks down the Earth Science Topics into the four different quarters, and explains the quarterly grading policies.
She begins the year by going over measurements, conversions, and the scientific method. I think this helps students create a foundations for the rest of the topics they will be learning throughout the year. Ms. Parvo explained to me that she believes the scientific method is the basis for all scientifc work, and that in order for students to understand these concepts, they have to know how and where they came from. I think that in my classroom, depending on the exact class I was teaching, I will do the same thing. I believe that establishing a foundation, and making sure all my students are on the same page before investigating a concept more in depth, is very important in making sure that no student gets behind. In another of of my education courses, we created a contract to hand out to our students, very similar to the one the Ms. Parvo hands out. I fully intend on using this method in my classes, so that both students and parents know what is expeted in my classroom. I think that it is important to establish open lines of communication with the parents/guardiens from the very first day of class. This is something that I also intend on doing in my classroom. I look forward to observing/helping out more in Ms. Parvo's classroom more in the future.
My cooperating teacher, Ms. Parvo, introduces her classroom polices on the first day of class. She does so by going over the school wide rules and policies first, then by passing around a bright yellow piece of paper entitled, "Ms. Parvo Brown's Classroom Expectations 2009-2010." The students read the expectations, fill in expectations that they have for Ms. Parvo as their teacher, and sign and date it. It is bascially a student contract, that way the students are clear as to what is expected of them both academically and behaviorly. The parents/guardiens of the student also has to read and sign the contract, so the parents know what is expected of their child. The parents are asked to leave their phone number and email address so Ms. Parvo can contact them easily if needed. Also a paper entitled, "How to WORK to improve your grade" is passed out, and read together as a class. Ms. Parvo clearly explains how to improve their grade in the class by coming after school, etc. A class syllabus is passed out, and breaks down the Earth Science Topics into the four different quarters, and explains the quarterly grading policies.
She begins the year by going over measurements, conversions, and the scientific method. I think this helps students create a foundations for the rest of the topics they will be learning throughout the year. Ms. Parvo explained to me that she believes the scientific method is the basis for all scientifc work, and that in order for students to understand these concepts, they have to know how and where they came from. I think that in my classroom, depending on the exact class I was teaching, I will do the same thing. I believe that establishing a foundation, and making sure all my students are on the same page before investigating a concept more in depth, is very important in making sure that no student gets behind. In another of of my education courses, we created a contract to hand out to our students, very similar to the one the Ms. Parvo hands out. I fully intend on using this method in my classes, so that both students and parents know what is expeted in my classroom. I think that it is important to establish open lines of communication with the parents/guardiens from the very first day of class. This is something that I also intend on doing in my classroom. I look forward to observing/helping out more in Ms. Parvo's classroom more in the future.